Metroid Prime: The Outsider
by oliveva
Summary: A creature from a foreign dimension has forced itself into the Gaflar System, creating a huge ripple and reversal in time. The creature suddenly splits into two after having done some "work" on the Valhalla and Samus ends up having to hunt both halves.
1. Chapter 1

She remembered it like it was yesterday…

Samus had been called over to the GFS Olympus for reasons unknown to her. She was slightly distraught, pondering on what could be troubling Admiral Dane. She's known him for a pretty long time. In their battles against the Space Pirates and Dark Samus, he showed valiance and involvement—especially when he escorted his demolition experts to the surface of the Pirate Homeworld. What, then, could be troubling him if he had been submerged in the midst of trouble many times before? She wondered this as she hurried as much as she could, her eyes keen and focused on the empty cosmos before her. The Olympus had at last met her determined gaze.

With delicacy, she landed her ship in Docking Bay 5, exiting the ship not too long after with the intention of reaching the Ready Room as quickly as possible. She was stopped by a Trooper that told her to be careful when venturing the ship. Something funny was going on. She had finally reached the Ready Room, and Admiral Dane was addressing an issue with a fleet trooper. When he had finally noticed Samus, the trooper was dismissed. The room was empty. Samus could only hear the ambience of the Olympus as Dane paced back and forth before her. "Don't know how to tell you this, Samus," he said to her. "Something strange is happening, but we haven't been able to tell what it is. However, I, as well as all the other troopers on this ship, feel that something odd is going on."

Samus raised a brow. "When did you start feeling like this—not that it may help factor in…" she asked. Dane shook his head.

"It's hard to tell," he said worriedly, his arms crossed behind him. He brought his left hand to his forehead and heaved a weary sigh. "I've lost sleep over it."

The hunter followed Dane with her eyes as the Admiral commenced pacing again. "Castor, tell me what's wrong," she demanded subtly and out of concern. He looked at her and shook his head again. "I need time to think," he said to her. Samus nodded slowly and understandingly, and was dismissed from the Ready Room. "Call me back when you're ready to tell me," she called back to him as the door closed behind her. She walked through the Meeting Access with so much on her mind. What could be troubling the Galactic Federation—let alone **Castor Dane**— so much?

Upon returning to Docking Bay 5, she was greeted by the same trooper, who asked her what was wrong with the Admiral. "Don't know," she replied. She turned to the training drones and commenced shooting. The troopers observed her every move, fascinated (and still honored that **the** Samus Aran was an ally to them). "I gave him time to think about it," she added as she hit the drone 10 times, consecutively. She gunned for 20. Then 30. Then 40. The troopers never thought she'd stop, but when she hit 50, she turned around to face them and asked, "Do you guys feel… you know… strange?"

The two troopers looked at each other, then at Samus. They nodded quickly.

"Nauseous," said one.

"Head's killing me," said the other (he hadn't uttered a word since Samus landed, and it pained him to do so). Samus sighed and pondered some more. Home sickness? Motion sickness? Every diagnosis she thought of made no sense. They were perfectly fine before the attack from the Space Pirates. What was so different about now? "Ugh, I need some fresh air," she muttered. The nauseous trooper just remembered something when she said that. "Oh yeah! We probably need fresh air!" he exclaimed. "They finished repairing the damages on Norion."

"Took them long enough," Samus whispered as she headed for her ship. "I'll see you down there, I guess."

"Right!" the two exclaimed. The other one grabbed his own head and let out a silent "ow" as Samus boarded her ship.

Upon landing on Norion, Samus took a look around the base where a huge battle was fought not too long ago. All her memories passed through her mind, and again, thoughts of her allies, three other bounty hunters whom were corrupted and whom she had to slay, crossed her conscience. She felt like she did back on Elysia. Alone. Worried. Saddened. But being a warrior at heart, she came to the conclusion that their deaths were not in vain.

She had to come up with something to do to pass the time. She wondered what was taking the troopers she spoke with back on the Olympus so long to get down there. She decided that she'd have a little fun and annoy a fleet mechanic. Those guys were finished their jobs, anyway. She approached a mechanic that was standing against the wall, his eyes focused on the sky as if he were searching for something. "Well look who's busy," she remarked, hoping the guy would hear her. He looked in her direction and quickly looked away, guilty for not speaking to her when she tried to talk to him many years before. "I said look who's busy!" Samus repeated, feeling impatient.

"Uh… yeah… hello…" the mechanic exhaled awkwardly. He didn't dare to make eye contact with her. "You guys got it together fast over here I see," Samus said. She was attempting to compliment him. He glanced at her briefly and looked back at the sky. "Uh… thanks," he said as he squinted his eyes.

Samus shook her head and turned away from him. "You're hopeless," she muttered as she left the area.

Samus sat cross-legged on top of her ship and took in the sights of the gorgeous forest world. The trees whispered amongst one another as the breeze stirred their vibrant green leaves. To her, the calming feeling was amazingly beautiful, and she was happy that she was able to relax for once in her life. "Hey, Samus!" called a man from behind her. She removed her helmet and turned her head to see the nauseous and the headache bearing troopers standing in front of her ship. The headache bearing trooper was admiring it. "Well, what took you guys so long?" Samus asked, a slight smile on her face. The trooper shrugged. "I'm a noob at operating the Stiletto," he called up to her. "Mind if we come up and sit?"

"Be careful," Samus said as she crawled onto the ship's wing and held out her hand. "Grab on."

One by one, she pulled the troopers on top of her ship, and the three sat down and enjoyed the tranquil ambience of Norion.

"Lovely, isn't it?" the nauseous trooper asked quietly. Samus nodded in agreement.

"Wish I could have more times like this," she said. "But… we always seem to get into trouble, huh?"

"Think about it like this," the headache bearing trooper said to them. "All these bad times make you really appreciate the good times, no matter how scarce they may be."

"Yeah, you're right," Samus replied as she looked up into the sky. Thoughts of her brief time with the other bounty hunters and finally, of her times with the Chozo put a strain on her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

That night, after Samus and the troopers had a long conversation and took a long walk around the base, Samus boarded her ship and slept a peaceful sleep that she could not obtain for many years. The hunter had finally been able to sleep like an angel. In her dream, she was frolicking through a vibrant grassland, clad in a white dress and a large hat that helped to shield her eyes from the sun. She picked a flower and sniffed it, her eyes focused on its dewy petals. When she looked up, her gaze instantaneously became fixed on a Chozo that stood before her. He held out his hand before him, inviting Samus to grab hold of it. She did, and when her skin came in contact with his, the grassland disappeared and was replaced with an image of the cosmos. "Samus," the Chozo said to her. "Darkness, once again, has manifested itself into this galaxy…"

Her eyes widened at the thought of what could possibly be happening. "There's… no way…"

"Yes, you are correct. Everything has returned back to the way it was before the attack on the Olympus. We know not the cause of such a reversal in time."

"So wait, this means—?!"

"Yes, the bounty hunters that you had once reluctantly slain are alive and free of Phazon corruption. Sadly, the cause of this reversal was likely an evil one…"

She was slightly happy from the news, but confused from the rest of what she was told. What kind of force could reverse everything in such a strange way? And…

"What about Dark Samus?" she asked.

"Dark Samus is dormant, being prevented from awakening by the same force that has performed this massive reversal."

"Whao… I don't know what to make of this…" Samus whispered. She pressed her face into her hands in deep thought. "What of Dane? What of this sickness? Why don't I feel anything?" she asked.

"That must be discovered by you yourself, Samus. The answer lies in the ruins," the Chozo replied. "We must part for the time being. Be careful, my daughter…"

Samus gasped and returned to reality. "Gray… Voice…" she whispered to herself as tears streamed down her cheeks.

The next morning, she headed up to the Olympus, hoping that Castor Dane had finally made up his mind. She was greeted by the two troopers from the day before, and was overcome with dread as she walked through the Meeting Access. She only hoped that Dane was okay. As she entered the ready room, she looked around for Dane. "Castor?" she called. "Castor!"

"Fleet Admiral Castor Dane isn't here," someone called from behind Samus. The startled hunter spun around and stopped to face a PED Marine who was clad in the PED Suit—only it was black and his visor was red. Samus' stomach seemed to turn in this trooper's presence. Not only that, his voice sounded far from normal. Something was wrong with him. "Where did you come from?" Samus asked, narrowing her eyes with paranoia. The trooper suddenly cackled maniacally and fell to his knees. "VAL…HALLA," he hissed. Samus stared in perplexity as the trooper's armor returned to normal.

"Samus Aran. Please report to the Aurora Chamber Immediately."

Samus was called to the Aurora Chamber by Aurora Unit 242. She headed back to the Flag Bridge and over to Aurora Access, where she boarded the lift to the chamber. She stepped into the chamber and was greeted by both Admiral Dane and Unit 242 as she removed her helmet. "Samus, right on time," Dane said to her casually.

"Let's skip the small talk. What in the world is happening?" Samus asked, weary from both her dream and the confrontation. "We shall explain it to you the best we can," AU 242 said to Samus. She then briefed Samus on the recent occurrences.

"Strangely enough, my records—as well as Unit 217's and Unit 486's—have reset back to the current date. Admiral Dane has notified me of this and we have found it to be true, for when he asked to access the documentation of the battle at Phaaze, we have discovered that it was no where to be found and that the date had been reset. Even stranger than that, the hunters that you have worked with have reappeared on the planets to which they were assigned, but they are now at Elysia. We do not know what the resetting of the database and their revival means, and we are wondering if you could be in possession of some useful information."

"Well I had a dream last night…" Samus said silently. "Gray Voice told me that there has been a massive reversal of time and occurrences. What's been done has been undone… even the attack on the Valhalla… Valhalla!!"

Dane jumped at Samus's outburst. "What about it?" he asked nervously. Samus made eye contact with Dane, a small hint of fear in her eyes. "I stopped at the Ready Room because I thought you were there, and there was a Trooper…"

"A Trooper, you say? In the Ready Room?"

"Yeah, his armor was black and his visor was red… and he talked as if he were… possessed…"

"We have caught records of a strange apparition traveling around the galaxy… it was last spotted leaving the Olympus before we called you, sSamus," Unit 242 reported.

"Well then what the hell is it? And what of Dark Samus? If everything's been reversed, you'd think she'd be alive!" Dane shouted.

"She is, but she's dormant," Samus replied. "Gray Voice said so."

"Then you have to go to the Valhalla and see what the hell's going on!" Dane commanded hurriedly. Samus trembled visibly. "Okay," she said to Dane as her helmet reappeared over her head. "But on one request."

"Shoot," Dane said to the hunter as she turned towards the Aurora Access.

"Keep the other guys out of this," Samus called back as she waved.

Samus didn't get it. If everything was reversed back to before the attack, then why were Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda revived on their assigned planets? What was with that trooper? And the dormancy of Dark Samus still puzzled her so! She hoped that her visit to the GFS Valhalla would reveal an answer. She entered the Klar Nebula, landed on the docking bay of the Valhalla and was greeted with utter and complete silence. It was just as eerie as it was when she visited it before. Upon surveying the area, however, she realized that everything was fixed up completely. Worse yet, something seemed different about the ship. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Samus, valiantly yet reluctantly, proceeded to explore the flagship. All traces of Phazon were rendered absent, and something about the material from which the ship was made forced Samus to ponder even more on what happened. Oh well, she thought. What's been done has been done. She walked through the silent ship, unbothered by the dim lighting and was startled by the voice of a familiar being—Aurora Unit 313!

"Samus Aran… welcome," the AU said to her through the announcement system. She heard the doors lock behind her. "We have been waiting for you…"

"What's going on?!" Samus shouted down the corridor. She stood stiffly and waited for an answer. Instead, she was grabbed from behind by a trooper similar to the one that uttered the name of the ship back on the Olympus. She quickly elbowed the trooper, spun around, and pulled the trigger in her arm cannon, but the shot was absorbed by the wall itself—and there was no trooper to be found. "The Valhalla is currently created from organic material that was originally the wrecked steel. Upon my restoration by my master, I decided to add a little twist to the ship for when he returns," 313 stated deviously. "Come here, I would love to see you."

Several hands sprouted out the wall and tightly grabbed hold of Samus, who struggled to free herself from their tight grasps as they pulled her inside the wall. Her efforts were rendered futile and she fell unconscious.

When at last she was released from the darkness, she was laying face down on the floor of the Aurora Chamber. She looked up in the direction of 313, who appeared to be purged of any Phazon corruption. She was relieved, but then again, she was confused. 313 still seemed… evil. Even though he was seemingly revived and there was no presence of Phazon anywhere on the ship, there was still some sort of corrupted nature about 313. She feared that the same would go for the revived hunters. Thoughts of Dark Samus manifested themselves in her mind, but she shook them off. She weakly got to her feet and glared at the Aurora Unit. "You have some explaining to do. Who is your master? What happened to you?!" she asked. The Aurora Unit only chuckled dementedly and a hologram of a familiar planet appeared before her. "Go to Tallon IV. The answer lies in the ruins," 313 replied. Samus gasped at the sight and name of Tallon IV. She'd be going back into a nightmare where her contact with Phazon first began.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure it is safe for her to have gone to the Valhalla?" Unit 242 asked Admiral Dane. The Admiral was nervously pacing back and forth in the Ready Room. He always found himself doing so when he was feeling restless. He took a deep breath and jumped at the sound of a Trooper's reaction to something he discovered. "Sir, Samus' signal has been rediscovered! We have contact with her right now!"

"Get her on the line," Dane commanded. He folded his arms behind his back as always, anxious to speak with Samus.

"Castor, I went to Valhalla and it's perfectly fine! Were you trying to get rid of me?" Samus joked, a massive hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Spit it out, Aran. What did you see?" Dane asked the hunter.

Samus told Dane of what she saw, from the organic make up of the ship to the devious behavior of Aurora Unit 313. She also explained the indecent manner in which she was taken to the chamber, and how the Troopers seem to have been entwined with the walls of the ship. Dane was disgusted. "This makes me wanna puke more than the sight of those sickening Space Pirates," he muttered.

"I know. How's that Marine doing?" Samus asked curiously.

"Stanley? He told us that the last thing he remembered was walking around the Flag Bridge and before he could finish, he had this strange seizure and passed out."

"Goodness! Is he okay?!"

"His vital signs are stable from the looks of it," Dane replied. "Samus. I don't know what to make of this, but you better keep your head down."

"You know I am. But first, I have to get over to Tallon IV. 313 said I'd find something there," the hunter replied. "Aran out."

After a moment of traversing the depths of space, Samus had finally reached the Tallon Overworld. The rain drops collided with her suit and danced on the ground after she exited her ship. After traversing much of the terrain, she was confronted by a few Space Pirates (who were apparently scared for their lives). Without hesitation, she held her arm cannon up in their direction. "[Hey hey hey Hunter!]" one of the pirates yelled, waving his arms hysterically. He appeared to have been relieved that she had arrived. "What the hell do you creeps want?" Samus muttered. She was getting impatient. "[Well yeah, uh… there's this guy ahead… you don't mind getting rid of him for us, do you?]" the pirate asked quickly. Samus brought her hand to her chin, raising her brow with intrigue. "What's he look like, bums?" she asked them.

"[We couldn't tell; he was wearing this long, black cloak that covered **everything**.]" the pirate replied. Samus rolled her eyes.

"Some help you guys are," she said sarcastically as she walked ahead. The pirates continued to run away. She looked around the terrain but spotted nothing. Angry and impatient, Samus soon fell under the impression that the Pirates had set her up. As she muttered several curses to herself, her combat visor began to malfunction. Everything before her, from the ferns to the rain, became white noise. Panicking, she attempted to switch her visor in hopes of ridding it of the white noise. Even the X-Ray visor did her no service. Alas, she had no choice but to remove her helmet. And when she did, she realized that a tall, darkened figure was standing before her. Gasping and jumping back, Samus hurriedly aimed her arm cannon at the shady man, who only smiled and tilted his head. "Samus Aran, I presume?" the man said to her.

"Who are you?" the hunter asked, still startled.

"No need for names," the man chuckled as he parted his cloak, revealing his weapons. They looked like ordinary guns to Samus. She raised a brow and sighed with confidence.

She was certain that she'd be able to beat this guy. In thinking so, she put her helmet back on and proceeded to attack the man. Her combat visor was normal—but not for long. It started acting up again. "Stop screwing with my visor!" she yelled as she shot aimlessly in all directions. When the white noise cleared, the man was nowhere to be found. All that stood before Samus was the emptiness of the Overworld. Disappointed and bearing her objective in mind, Samus headed for the Chozo Ruins in search of an answer to her many questions. She surveyed the area, hoping that she wouldn't come in contact with any Chozo Ghosts. Much to her dismay, she did.

A tall, blonde haired man was running towards her, three Chozo Ghosts following him. "BY THE GODS I HATE BIRDS," he screamed hysterically as he took cover behind a fractured stone wall. Samus proceeded to battle the ghosts, who lashed out at her mercilessly. It seemed a long and weary battle, but what was a long battle to Samus was a short one to the frightened man. She had finally finished the last Chozo Ghost and triumphantly stood still as they faded away. "You can come out now," she called back to the man, who hastily stumbled from behind the wall. He brushed what dust he could off him and cleared his throat. "Well—ahem—thank you kindly," he said to the hunter. Samus couldn't take her eyes off his long ears. "You're not human, are you?" she asked curiously. The man raised a brow and shook his head. "Oh, that's nothing to worry about," he replied as he turned his back to her. Samus sighed with irritation as she continued onward. "Kay then," she said to the man. "Just be more careful next time."

"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT," the man squealed as he hugged one of Samus' legs. The hunter shook her leg as hard as she could, but her efforts seemed futile. "What are you doing?!" she asked him keenly. She looked into the man's eyes. They seemed to glitter with hope. Exhaling, Samus practically pried the stranger off her leg and glared down on him. "What is your problem?" she asked him.

"Well my partner and I were checking this place out because we learned that this is where Metroid Prime was at one point. We were headed to the Impact Crater when all of a sudden THEY appeared and chased us! We got separated and… well I haven't been able to contact him ever since!"

The man finished his story, hyperventilating not too long after his last words. His emerald green eyes were hysterically wide, and he seemed to clutch at the ground. He looked… pathetic. She knew he'd be dead weight, but she had to help him somehow. The last thing she wanted was for him to be slain by a Chozo Ghost—or worse. "Okay, you can hang with me until we find your partner. Just try not to get in my way," she said as she glared ahead.

"Yes, I will stay out of your way as much as possible!" the man stammered as he nodded quickly. Samus figured that she'd be stuck with this guy for a VERY long time.


	4. Chapter 4

"But the funny part about the whole issue was the fact that I had no weapons and they were still spazzing out because I was standing in the middle of their Frigate, you know what I mean? It was… ironic!"

This was the 20th story the man had told Samus since their journey. He told it from behind walls and columns, he wailed it from between crevices in the wall and in the ground, and he stuttered it as they ran from hordes of Chozo Ghosts. Samus was getting sick of the guy, but he was the only "friendly" company she had. Friendly… yet annoying. He was poking around at the waters of the ruins when he was suddenly snatched away from them by Samus, who snapped at him about how poisonous the water was. The man shook his head and chuckled, declaring that the water was untainted. When Samus scanned the waters, she found that his claim was true. Before she could ask how he figured it out, he had already wandered ahead. "Now you stop that!" she yelled at him as she caught up with him and grabbed hold of his hair. He wailed and gritted his teeth in pain and fell on his backside. "So where do you have to meet your partner?" Samus asked. The man did not reply. Instead, he folded his legs in a pretzel, and stared in silence at something in the sky. It was a flock of birds! Samus shot them for leisure to pass the time by (and vent out her irritation).

Nightfall had blanketed the ruins in darkness, leaving Samus' suit as the only source of illumination. "Honestly, where the hell is your partner?" the hunter asked as she stared into the starlit sky. She looked over at the man, who had built a tent for the two of them to stay in. "Oh no, there's no way we're staying here," Samus stated as she stood up. She was pulled back down to the ground by the man, who looked into her eyes. "There may be Chozo Ghosts popping up here any second! We can't take any chances!" Samus cried. The man pointed ahead to the dark hooded figure that Samus had encountered earlier. When Samus looked at the shady figure, her visor malfunctioned again, and she fell unconscious.

She awakened in a seemingly foreign location, and her head seemed to be throbbing with pain. "Relax, Samus," someone said to her from afar. She looked ahead and noticed who it was—it was Rundas! "Saved you once again, huh?" Rundas said to her as he looked down on her. He placed his hand on her bare forehead. "Your temperature is still a bit high," he said to her.

"Ha right dude, you forgot that you're one of the physically coldest beings in the crew, right?" Samus muttered jokingly.

"Still with that sense of humor," Rundas replied as he sat beside her.

"Yeah, I know. So what happened?" Samus asked. Rundas pondered for a bit.

"Well, I was sent to rendezvous with you at the Overworld, but you were nowhere to be found. This tall, shady man told me that you were back at the ruins, and before I could ask him why he left you, he disappeared. So then I found you lying on the ground. Luckily, there were no Chozo Ghosts around or else we would have been toast."

"Wait, what about that blonde guy?!" Samus asked frantically.

"Oooh, him? I don't know," Rundas said silently. He looked at the door as Ghor entered the infirmary. "The lil missy's awake," he said to Ghor as the cyborg peered down at Samus. "Well hello there!" Ghor exclaimed warmly. "217 said he wanted to see us as soon as you woke up."

"I guess I'll find out what the deal is when I get there, hm?" Samus asked as she sat up. She was ready for some answers. Maybe 217 would have them.

"Samus Aran, we are glad to see that you are okay," 217 said as Samus entered the chamber. 217 was a dedicated Aurora Unit. He was originally assigned to the GF Naval Base Demeter, but he was then later reassigned to Skytown when the Treaty of Elysia was signed. He too felt uneasy about the large reversal and wished to work with Samus and the other hunters to find out exactly what was going on. As the hunters entered the chamber and positioned themselves on the platform, 217 gave them what information he could that was concerning this whole reversal.

"We had detected an imbalance in the stability of time and space. Thanks to several recon drones, we were able to pick up the events. An unknown creature from a different dimension ripped through the rift of time and landed on the wrecked GFS Valhalla, where it found Dark Samus and the pirates attempting to remove AU 313 from the ship. It attacked the pirates with brute force and forced Dark Samus into a dormitory state, sending Dark Samus back to what we think is Phaaze.

"This creature's arrival triggered the reversal of time, making the planets, occurrences, and even our ships and databases travel backwards or reset at an exponential rate that was ceased when it touched the floor of the Aurora chamber, where he so happened to stop the reversal when Dark Samus and her followers were commencing their final phase of attack and stealing what they came for. This is just a speculation, but it is more than likely true due to the absence of the deceased leviathans on both Bryyo and Elysia and the revival of Ghor, Rundas, and Gandrayda. We, however, do not know the fate of the Valhalla. The creature approached 313 seductively and the recon drones transmitted nothing but white noise after that point."

"I know what happened to the Valhalla," Samus declared. "I landed on that ship and… didn't 242 tell you what I told her?"

"Our means of communication have been blocked," 217 replied.

"Pirates?" Gandrayda asked.

"More than likely," Ghor stated with a wave of his hand.

"Sometimes I'd love to strangle those Pirates, seriously," Rundas sighed.

Everyone chattered with agreement. Samus cleared her throat and proceeded to tell of what she saw on the Valhalla. "I landed on the ship and it was just as dead silent as when I went there before after the successful Space Pirate attack—but there were no signs that it had been attacked. Everything was neat and what have you, except for the fact that the ship had taken on a darker grey color and was horribly lit. I walked into the Cargo Bay and suddenly heard 313's voice on the loud speaker. I asked him where he was. But instead of getting a specified location as an answer, a Marine grabbed me by my waist from behind…"

"Oooh, kinky~!" Gandrayda giggled. Rundas elbowed her in a way that told her to grow up.

"…yeah… so… uhm… I elbowed the Marine and proceeded to shoot him, but when I turned around and pulled the trigger, no one was there. Oh yeah and the wall absorbed my shot! I was confused as all hell, and 313 said that he twisted up the ship's properties for his 'master'. He told me that he'd love to see me and I was grabbed by several hands and pulled into the wall. I passed out before I could pull my trigger. Next thing you know, I woke up in the Aurora Chamber, and… there was 313! He looked different, but I couldn't really tell because it was so damn dark in there. I told him that he had a lot of explaining to do, but he just chuckled and told me to go to Tallon IV."

If the others could see Rundas' face, he'd be gaping and blushing. Hard. But they couldn't.

"That was… intriguing… those events might explain why 313 has cut himself off from the network," 217 declared.

"But wouldn't he want to infect all of you or something?" Samus asked.

"We are not certain of 313's intentions, but they can't be good intentions if he now has a connection to that foreign creature," 217 replied.

"We are sending you to the Pirate Homeworld. Here, you each will have different assignments. Samus and Rundas will proceed to destroy the Space Pirates' means of blocking the Aurora Network, and Gandrayda and Ghor will get what data they can on this foreign creature and whatever else they can find. We wish you the best of luck and hope that you all return safely."

The hunters geared up (all of them were equipped with hazard suits due to the constant acidic rainfall), boarded their ships and headed over to the Space Pirate Homeworld.


	5. Chapter 5

"You know, Samus, I'm not used to working with others, but for some reason, working with you is a BLAST," Rundas commented as he and Samus tripped a Space Pirate and kicked it off the platform. They both laughed whole-heartedly as the Space Pirate plunged to his death. "Same to you," Samus replied as a Space Pirate ran at them at full speed only to be tripped over the edge of the platform. "I thought you were a lone wolf," Samus added as Rundas looked around excitedly. He was more than likely looking for more enemies. He peered around corners and looked back at Samus. "Maybe at one point I was. Any idea where and how they could be blocking the network?" he asked.

His question would soon be answered. After fending off a horde of Space Pirates, Rundas got a transmission from Ghor, who had gotten into the Command Center with the help of Gandrayda. "Talk to me," Rundas said as he leaned against a nearby wall.

"Well it appears everything—from the AU Network blockage to the information on that creature that attacked them on the Valhalla—is here," Ghor reported. Samus shook her head. "They should know better than to keep all that info in one place," she declared.

"Only you forgot one thing… they're Pirates!" Gandrayda giggled.

Samus chuckled at the sound of Ghor shushing Gandrayda on the other line. "Well we'll be over there ASAP," Rundas said as he signaled for Samus to follow him.

The two met up with Gandrayda and Ghor after a considerable amount of time. Ghor, Rundas, and Samus waited as Gandrayda shape-shifted into a Space Pirate and casually killed the other Pirates. She gave them the signal to enter, and the three did so quickly. As they searched the area, Samus told them about her encounter with the two strangers back on Tallon IV. "So there were these Pirates running at me. Full speed. Now my first instinct was to shoot them until I made craters out of them, but they weren't shooting at me or anything. They asked me to take care of some creepy hooded guy for them. Honestly, I would have left them for dead, but I had a feeling that that man held the answers to my questions. So I agreed to take care of him. I walked for what seemed like hours, and there was absolutely no sign of the guy. I instantaneously came to the conclusion that I was set up—until my visor started acting up. So I was flipping out and switching my visors—nothing worked—and then I just decided to completely take my helmet off. Bad move. That creepy hooded guy… was standing directly in front of me…"

After two hours of searching, storytelling, and blowing stuff up, the hunters boarded their ships and headed back to Elysia, commending each other for a job well done.

"Welcome back," 217 said as the hunters entered the Aurora Chamber. "Thanks to your efforts, the network is back online. We still have yet to contact AU 313…"

"Don't worry about it, he's all kinds of screwed up anyway," Samus stated wearily.

"I'd have to see this for myself," Rundas declared arrogantly.

"No, you retard! Goodness no, it was horrible!" Samus stuttered hysterically. She removed her helmet and sat on the floor, panting heavily. "That was the closest to rape I've ever gotten in my life."

"RAPE!" Gandrayda giggled. Rundas had to elbow her to stop her from laughing. Samus hugged her knees and stared at the ceiling. Something had crossed her mind again. She only hoped that the blonde was okay.

The Aurora Units exchanged the information they had obtained in solitude while the network was down. While asleep, Samus got a message from Dane. He wanted to see her early the next morning. There was another bounty to be announced. Not sure whether to tell the others, Samus left a note to Rundas telling him that she'd have to leave. She told him to call her as soon as he woke up and not to be around the other two when he did so unless he wanted Ghor to tag along. But hey, who'd be left to babysit Gandrayda? Oh well, the decision was up to Rundas. Samus got on her ship and flew to the Olympus, where she landed in her usual spot and talked to her usual pals by the entrance. "Please tell me you guys don't stand here all day every day. You're human! You need to do something with your lives!" she exclaimed hysterically. The two guys looked at each other and shrugged. "We have no lives," one of them said.

"Samus, we heard about what happened on the Valhalla!" the other said excitedly. "That sounds so co—

"Bob that was not cool at all, seriously!" the other Marine snapped. "IT. SOUNDED. HORRIBLE."

"Horrible? Neh, that's an understatement. It was more like… atrocious. Everything was so… ew," Samus said as she shuddered at the thought. "You guys know Powell, Petersen, Ramirez, and Kelbaugh?"

"By the gods, not those guys!"

"Yeah, those guys. I'm sure they're all part of that ship by now…"

"EWWWWW," Bob wailed as he fell to the floor and crumpled up into the fetal position.

The other Marine looked down at Bob and kicked him gently. "Get up, you retard," he scolded. Samus shook her head and chuckled at the sight. "WHYYYYYY," Bob wailed. He stopped wailing when he was kicked again, but he remained in fetal position. "They were my favorite noobs," he cried through gritted teeth.

"Bob what the hell. Man up!" the other Marine snapped. Bob stood up and brushed himself off, clearing his throat as if he wasn't just on the floor crying like a little girl. Samus found this to be quite hilarious. "Okay fellas, I gotta move on," she said. "Dane wants to see me."

"Okay, see ya soon, Samus Aran!" Bob said excitedly, saluting. The other Marine chuckled and waved. Samus waved back and headed to the Ready Room.

"Hey Admiral. How are you feeling today?" Samus asked as the door closed behind her. Dane looked down on Samus from the platform and smiled.

"Better than I did at one point, thanks," he said to her as he jumped down to shake her hand. "So I see you've gotten my call!"

"Yes I did. Who's next on the blacklist?"

"We don't know his name, so we're calling him ULF 27. His origins are unknown, though it's observed that he's from another dimension and is responsible for the rip in the space-time continuum. He has split into two parts—both of which you encountered on Tallon IV."

"Wh—the hooded guy and that annoying blonde?!"

"Precisely. Both of them are responsible for the horrid 'restoration' of the Valhalla—and for 313's betrayal."

"No way… you're lying, right? There's no way that storyteller is part of that… oh my goodness no."

Dane covered his mouth as if he was stifling a laugh. "Yes, Samus, it's true. Go see Stanley. He's got information to tell you."

"Where is he?"

"He's still recovering from that seizure in MedLab Delta."

Samus nodded. "I'll check him out," she said as she left the room. She walked across the back of the Flag Bridge and eventually reached the MedLab, where she spotted Stanley sitting up in his bed. "Hey Stan, you okay?" she asked. Stanley, who was blindfolded, tilted his head back slightly and smiled as much as he could. "I'm not sure… I don't have long," he said to her.

"Stop saying that! You have all the time in the world!" Samus exclaimed as she ran over to his bed. "What happened to you before you woke up here?"

"I… I was walking around Docking Bay 4 when I saw this strange black puddle on the landing pad. I decided to check the puddle out, but as I approached it, my visor started malfunctioning and I wasn't able to see a thing. I hastily took off my helmet and… it… the puddle…"

"The puddle…? What did it do?"

"It jumped in my mouth and down my throat… I was choking and I tried to regurgitate the substance, but instead my head started hurting really bad and my nose started bleeding. I tried to call for help, but I could do nothing. I couldn't breathe, everything started spinning and I… I passed out…"

By the end of the story, Samus was completely disturbed. The closest thing to relate that substance to was an X-Parasite, but it hadn't killed Stanley—and it was black.

"It tasted sweet, though," Stanley added light-heartedly. Samus giggled a little and stopped when Stanley clutched his stomach and groaned with pain. "Ugh… I feel like something's moving inside me…"

"Stan, hang in there! I'll call the medic…"

"No…need…"

"What?"

"No need… iliwe ebon mi ya…"

"What?!"

Stanley suddenly jumped out of bed and ran out of the MedLab. Samus panicked and followed him as quickly as she could. "Castor, I'm in hot pursuit right now! Stanley… something's going wrong with him!" she shouted into her communicator as she ran into the hologram to activate the lift. _No way… did he jump all the way up there?_ Samus thought as the lift elevated to the next floor.

"Samus, I got your call. Stanley's literally jumped off the edge of Docking Bay 5!" Bob called from the other line.

"Where's Dane?"

"I don't know! I've lost all contact with the Ready Room and the Flag Bridge. Something's disrupting the…Samus! Samus, are you still there?! Everything's going… I can't…. Sa…"

Samus' communicator malfunctioned and shut down as she entered the Flag Bridge. Everyone in the room was unconscious. Samus didn't know what to think of the situation. As she took another step, everyone in the room slowly sprang to life, trembling and groaning as their clothing turned black and their eyes rolled to the back of their heads. "Don't scream," Samus said to herself. "Don't scream."

Upon being grabbed by someone unknown to her, Samus screamed as loud as she could.


	6. Chapter 6

Samus flailed her arms wildly as she was picked up by this unknown person and dragged into a save station. With her eyes squeezed closed, she kicked and screamed as the doors closed behind her and the kidnapper. "Samus… Samus! Samus oh my god stop," the kidnapper grunted as he put the panicking hunter down. Samus calmed down when she realized who it was. Once again, Rundas had saved her life. "You need to stop that or else I'll end up owing you my life a hundred times," she joked as she removed her helmet to get what fresh air she could. "You were about to get attacked and infected by Federation zombies. I couldn't just stand there," Rundas said.

"GOD is this déjà vu like when I was on Aether?!" Samus wailed as she buried her face in her palm. Rundas shrugged. "Maybe," he replied as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Rundas, what the hell is happening to everyone?" Samus asked, a hint of fear in her voice. "What about Admiral Dane? And 242?"

"I… damn. We need to sneak upstairs," Rundas muttered as he stared at the door in deep thought. "But you know that's impossible if you're talking about a guy like me and a gal like you—no offense."

Samus pondered deeply. "Unless we make a break for it," she blurted anxiously. Rundas shrugged. "It's worth a try," he said.

The two strolled casually out the save station and into the Flag Bridge, where they were once again greeted by the… Federation zombie technicians. Rundas stared in confusion as they all collapsed to the floor. They were twitching wildly, and tons of an unknown black liquid—presumably the one that attacked Stanley—spilled onto the floor. Samus knew what that meant. "Holy fu—GET TO THE LIFT," she yelled as she ran to the Aurora Access.

She and Rundas were stuck on the lift, grumbling with disbelief as they approached the chamber. They just realized that they had to get past an Elite PED Trooper—and he was probably infected with this unknown virus. The Trooper was lifelessly situated against the wall, his body showing no signs of decay or infection. "I'll handle this," Rundas said as he stepped in front of Samus. He approached the lifeless trooper with an uncertain sense of confidence. Just as he was prepared to tap the Trooper's head, he was pulled back by Samus as the Trooper snarled and attempted to grab him by the wrist. "Whao, nice save," Rundas said as Samus released him.

"Thanks. He looks nice, doesn't he?" Samus sarcastically asked, pointing her arm cannon at the Trooper. The Trooper hissed as he approached them, his body twitching feverishly. "God it's like a fucked up zombie movie on this ship!" Rundas said after he froze the Trooper in place. "You're right… I only hope 242 is okay…" Samus said as the door to the Aurora Chamber slowly opened.

Back at Elysia, poor Ghor was left to deal with Gandrayda. He had just confiscated several explosives from the shape-shifter when he got a call from Rundas. "Do tell me why you left me behind to watch the immature one?" Ghor snapped as Gandrayda jumped around squealing in the background. "Sorry bout that," Rundas said. "I figured Samus would need my help, and lo and behold, she did."

"Oh get your head out your ass!" Ghor heard Samus shout from the other line.

"What? I'm just saying!" Rundas shouted back.

Ghor stood in silence as the two argued back and forth. He grabbed Gandrayda by her arm and flung her onto the couch to prevent her from touching the explosives again. "Goodness, get married or something," Ghor muttered.

"OH MY GOD NO. Anyway, that's not why I called you. Everyone on the Olympus has come down with some… freaky virus. They're like… demonic zombies having seizures and shit."

"Honestly, how much more demonic can a zombie get?"

"Dunno. Wanna know what's worse?"

"What is it?"

"Well aside from the sei—THAT GUY JUST BROKE OUT THE ICE AIODIASODINAOFINAEUFBFSDEF," Rundas yelled, pointing at the Elite Trooper. Samus instantaneously tackled him and started punching at his head.

"Well apparently this guy named Stanley just jumped off Docking Bay 5."

"NO."

"I'm not lying, dude. Samus just to—Gosh did you have to throw him like that?!"

"He was trying to scratch me!" Samus yelled.

Ghor buried his face in his palms. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"HELP US NOW," Rundas yelled. The transmission was cut.

"Ghor, it appears all possible communication with the Olympus has been cut short. However, the Aurora Network is still up and running. We will transmit any crucial data that we obtain to you. Meanwhile, you and Gandrayda must hurry to the Olympus to investigate," 217 said to Ghor through his communicator. Ghor nodded, and with much difficulty, he got Gandrayda to follow him to the Olympus.

"Oh goodness, what's the hold up? I can only hold off these guys but for so long!" Samus wailed.

"I agree with you completely, Samus. These guys are… damn. What got up their—

"We can help deal with the infected members of the GFMC, but we are concerned about their well beings and do not wish to have them killed," 242 said with concern.

"True, but can we just kill them and say it was self defense?" Rundas said jokingly. He seriously wanted to get these guys off his back.

"We'd lock them out, but your other two comrades are on their way and we don't want to lock them out there with them. What's worse is the fact that we cannot seem to communicate with them from here. It is as if…"

The Troopers backed down, and just like the technicians, they trembled violently as a black liquid spilled out their helmets. After much groaning and hissing, the Troopers collapsed to the floor, their armor having returned to normal. Samus backed up as the puddle of the black liquid seemed to grow bigger with each being that regurgitated it. "Rundas… this doesn't look good…" she said quietly.


	7. Chapter 7

They docked on Docking Bay 4 and raced to the Aurora Chamber as quickly as they could. However, upon reaching the Flag Bridge, they heard chaos in the Ready Room. "I don't know what to make of this," Ghor muttered as he looked back and forth from the Aurora Access to the Ready Room. "I'd hate to say it, but we have to split up."

"Awlright, fun!" Gandrayda giggled as she skipped to the ready room. Ghor shook his head and opened the door to Aurora Access. He became shocked at the sight before him: several Marines were strewn across the floor, a huge black puddle situated in the midst of them. Cautiously, Ghor stepped around the bodies and the puddle and onto the lift. Once he stepped into the hologram, the puddle formed into an unknown life form that proceeded to crawl after him. As soon as the lift made contact with the upper platform, Ghor was pulled forward as the life form stretched its limb in an attempt to grab him. "Thanks for the save, Samus," Ghor stammered.

"Yo what the hell was that?!" Rundas nearly screamed.

"I… don't know…" Ghor stuttered as he got to his feet. He didn't dare to peer down to the other platform for fear that he might get snatched up. "Well we have to do something before that thing thinks about getting to the Aurora Unit—

"Uh, Samus?"

"WHAT."

"Not to make matters worse but uh…. there's a puddle up here too…"

"Shit!" Samus screamed as she turned around and dodged the elastic grip of yet another creature composed of the black liquid. "Two of them!" Ghor exclaimed, a frightened nature about him. "Exactly how many of these things are there?" Rundas asked as he accidentally shot the creature and froze its leg. Samus' eyes widened with excitement. "No way!" She whispered, staring at the creature as it detached its leg from the frozen mass of ice and regenerated.

"Ffffuck," Rundas grumbled. "Did you see that?"

"Hmmm… Since the creature is composed of liquid, it is easy to disable simply by freezing it all over… but then, to ensure its disposal, we'd probably have to double-tap."

"Double-tap?" Samus asked.

"It's always safe to be sure, Samus. We're killing it via the plasma beam. Take something frozen and instantly expose it to a very high concentration of heat and it shatters," Ghor said to the hunter. Samus's eyes lit up as soon as she understood what Ghor was hinting at. The creature let out a deep groan as it swung its elastic arms at the hunters. They backed up with each lethal swing, and Samus accidentally stepped into the hologram and the lift began to descend to the lower level, where the other (much larger) creature was. She jumped back onto the upper platform—but barely made it—and nearly fell down to the lower level. Luckily, Ghor was there to save her. Ghor grabbed hold of her hand, struggling to pull her up to the platform. "Your… Varia Suit is heavy, Samus," the cyborg stammered as he tugged at her wrist. The creature prepared to attack them once more, and Rundas was aware of this. "Guys!" he screamed as he spun around to face them. "It's getting ready to attack!"

Rundas nearly threw himself on the other two after having dodged the creature's attack, sending the three hunters plunging to the lower level—where they had to deal with the larger creature.

"Great job, Rundas," Samus muttered sarcastically as she stood up to face the monster.

"Oh shush," Rundas grumbled as he brushed himself off. "Golly, how are we going to combat _this_ behemoth, eh?"

"The same way I planned," Ghor answered as he sized the creature up from afar.

"It looks kinda…"

"Slow…"

"I totally agree, Sam," Rundas said, tilting his head.

And though the creature looked slow, it was the complete opposite. It roared and hissed, quickly extending its arms in an attempt to grab hold of one of the hunters. Samus squealed and tucked herself into the morph ball, rolling off to the side as the creature's hand collided with the nearby wall. "Rundas, freeze that thing now!" she yelled as she exited morph ball mode. Rundas created a path of ice and he surfed it, freezing the creature to the best of his ability from the bottom up. He was smacked off the ice and thrown into the wall, but not before he aimed a massive ice projectile at the creature's head that froze the rest of it completely. Without hesitation, Ghor and Samus destroyed the frozen life form with their weaponry. The creature shattered into many pieces, and the hunters interpreted it as a sign of the behemoth's defeat. They made the right call. Now all that was left was taking care of the thing upstairs and Gandrayda. "I'll go take care of Gandrayda—not that I think she needs any help," Ghor said to his allies as he hurried to the Meeting Access. Samus pondered in deep thought as she stepped into the hologram on the lift, Rundas right behind her. "Damn, uh… so what are we going to do, eh?" she asked. "Ghor's the one with the plasma beam."

"I say we take this fucker out on our own," Rundas replied straightforwardly. Again, he was anxious to get rid of the trouble. As the hunters stepped onto the upper platform, they noticed that the creature was attempting to get into the Aurora Chamber. "Sorry my man, that's for authorized personnel only," Rundas said as he completely froze the fiend. Samus charged a shot to be sure she'd do absolute damage and fired it at the mass of ice, shattering it with ease. "That was lame," Rundas grumbled as he looked around Aurora Access. "Wanna know what's even funnier?" he suddenly asked Samus after a short period of silence.

"What?" Samus asked as she poked at the lifeless Trooper.

"We always end up with each other. We're always… alone," Rundas said, looking at Samus. The hatchling continued to poke at the Marine. "Unless you wanna count this guy in, then we're technically not alone," she said. The Trooper finally regained his consciousness and sat up, rubbing his head slowly and staring ahead. "Wh… goodness what happened…?" he asked dizzily.

"You fell," Samus lied as she helped him get to his feet. She didn't want to tell him the truth flat out for fear that he wouldn't believe it or he would over react. Rundas pointed at her. "Oh yeah, she's l—

"PFSHUSH," Samus whispered with force. Rundas looked away and tried his best to whistle. He failed at it.

"I thought you'd do something by now," Ghor muttered to Gandrayda as they both stared at the technicians from a safe distance. "I thought I was too!" Gandrayda exclaimed silently. Ghor brought his hand to his face. "So uh… what we gonna do?" Gandrayda giggled. Ghor shrugged his shoulders. "That substance inside them can be frozen, but… Rundas isn't here and he might end up freezing the technicians and calling it 'self defense' like a moron and… I don't want that," Ghor grumbled.

Gandrayda giggled at the thought of Rundas doing such a thing. She nearly squealed as the door suddenly opened and Rundas and Samus stepped in the room. "Hey guys, we're here to he—

"Rundas shut up," Ghor whispered, waving his hands frantically.

"What? Is this how you thank your pal Rundas for stopping by to help you fuckers out? This is the thanks I get. The thanks I get!"

As Rundas ranted and raved, the technicians finally noticed the Hunters and let out deep, intimidating growls. And Samus, even though she didn't want to say it again, had no choice but to say it. "Great job, Rundas!" she wailed as the technicians approached them quickly.


	8. Chapter 8

"Zombies. Zombies. Zombies. Zo—

"Rundas, we get it dude. Zombies. Okay. Now let's do something about them!"

"…can we shoot them and say it was self defense?"

"NO."

"What? I'm just saying!"

The four hunters hastily spun around and ran as fast as they could down the hall. "So if we can't beat the stuffing out of them, what are we supposed to do?" Rundas asked.

"Wait until they have a seizure, perhaps?" Ghor suggested. The door to the Flag Bridge opened and the Hunters ran to the other side and stood in front of it, awaiting the possessed technicians on the other side. "Dude, won't we have to deal with another one of those monsters?" Rundas asked, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Samus replied.

"This is fun!" Gandrayda giggled as she clapped her hands excitedly. Rundas elbowed her again. "Grow up, you weirdo," he muttered. Ghor raised his head in a way that signaled his alertness. "They are coming," he whispered. And with that, the door that served as a boundary between the Meeting Access and the Flag Bridge had opened. The technicians stepped though the door, growling and grinning. The black liquid was spilling from their mouths and creating thick puddles on the floor. Rundas froze one of them and was punched in the side by both Samus and Ghor. "Ow, what?! He looked funny!" he wailed in self defense. The technicians collapsed to the floor, snarling as black spikes pushed out their backs and through their outfits. Samus cringed as they shrilled, their teeth sharpening and their limbs elongating at a painfully rapid rate. "That looks like it… it hurts…" Samus muttered as she stepped back a bit.

"I have noticed that the technician that Rundas froze isn't mutating... Rundas! Freeze these beings now!" Ghor commanded quickly. Rundas did as he was told, and the development of the creatures ceased completely, for they were encased in ice.

A few hours later, they finally got in contact with Admiral Dane, who was conveniently at a press conference on Norion. Upon speaking with the Hunters, he realized that he just avoided a very horrifying event. "Okay, so it wasn't _that _horrifying, but just the fact that everyone was twitching and spewing out black stuff and snarling like beasts was enough to make your skin crawl. If you heard and saw everything, you'd get what I mean. It was… oh god ew," Rundas ranted into the communicator. "Oh yeah and they hardly gunned for the Aurora Unit. Well one of them did, but we kicked his a—

"So how did you get off the ship and to Norion so quickly, Castor?" Samus asked the Admiral.

"Oh I just… have my ways. Here, I'll show you. But make sure this information doesn't travel beyond these walls, okay? I don't want those damned Pirates to catch on," Dane mumbled as he appeared in the Ready Room and walked down the Meeting Access. "We've been secretly working on a project ever since the arrival of that creature. We were skeptical about it at first—and now I know personally that it does come in handy. This (Dane showed them a platform in the corner of the room) is a teleportation platform. This device will enable soldiers to travel from Norion to the Olympus and vice versa safely. We're currently developing the project so that we will be able to warp to Bryyo and Elysia with ease."

"Why exactly is the Science Team developing such a device?"

"We decided to develop this device with three objectives in mind: avoid contact with Pirates, avoid accidents—such as the attack on the Valhalla, and traverse space as time efficiently as possible to get to certain areas quicker."

"Oooooo! Awesome!" Gandrayda giggled. "Can we try it?"

"Oh what the heck, sure," Dane said as the doors to the Flag Bridge opened. He stepped through the door and stared at the masses of ice. "...Okay kids, what happened here?" he asked, raising a brow. Everyone put on as fake a smile as possible—except Ghor because… you know. And Rundas… they still couldn't see his face anyway. "We had to… Rundas… had to… uh… yeah they were transforming and…" Ghor stammered. Dane raised a brow. "You don't say? Well, get them to the infirmary! And then you'll be able to get on the teleporter," he commanded. The Hunters all groaned like small children. Except for Gandrayda. She was already a small child. Kind of. Well, in her mind she was. It's hard to tell if she's young or just plain immature.

After much difficulty (though Rundas had no problem at all), the Hunters got the masses of ice to the infirmary, where the technicians encased in them would hopefully be purged of the virus. They all casually strolled back to the ready room and stepped onto the platform. "Okay you four. Behave yourselves," Dane told them. He pressed a button and the four were transported to Norion.

"No fugging way!" Rundas exclaimed as he stepped off the platform. The four had been teleported to the base. "This is INSANNNE." Samus looked around, impressed.

"I dig it," she said, nodding her head. Gandrayda was too stuned to even speak. Ghor, like Samus, was impressed. "Now if these were portable, we'd be really talking," Rundas exclaimed as he took a look around. The four stepped out of the new teleportation chamber and walked together around the base. Upon reaching Generator C, the four hunters spotted someone biting into the neck of a technician. "Oh come on, Stanley?!" Samus whispered.

"What oh my God. I thought he was on our side!" Rundas whispered to them.

"Well we can't just stand here," Ghor signaled. "Gandrayda, do something about—Gandrayda!"

Gandrayda was stealthily approaching Stanley and the technician. The technician was breathing irregularly and appeared as if she was desperately clinging to her life. Stanley slowly pulled his fangs out of her neck and slowly turned around to face Gandrayda, who had yet to notice that he noticed her. "Gandrayda!" Ghor whispered with force. Gandrayda turned her head and looked at the three Hunters, who were flailing their arms wildly in an attempt to get her to come back quickly. Stanley tilted his head, grinning mischievously as he slowly reached down to grab Gandrayda. With that, the other three hunters started pointing like mad, hoping that Gandrayda would get the hint. Samus started doing gestures of what she thought Stanley would do to Gandrayda. She wrapped her hands around her own neck and stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth as if she were choking herself. Gandrayda still didn't get it. When Stanley was bent over her, however, she finally got what they were getting at. Or so they thought. "Oh!" she said jumping up. "You mean he's going to give me candy?!"

Her head collided with his chin and knocked him unconscious, and the other three buried their faces in their palms. Or… well… Rundas just shook his head.

"So you're telling me Stanley jumped off Docking Bay 5?" Dane asked as Stanley was locked in a containment cell. "Yyyyep," Samus said, exhaling and pinching her forehead. "I know, it's kinda farfetched. You know… he's still infected and everything, and I don't think a plain surgery is gonna take care of this one. He's as good as theirs."

"SAMUS WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?" Rundas called from the other side of the room. "Look, all we have to do is develop a vaccine and it's all done and done, right?"

"It's not as simple as it may seem," Ghor said silently as he stared at the ceiling.

"Ghor is right, Rundas. This is possibly a virus from an alternate dimension, and who knows what attempting to toy with it will lead to. We'd all probably end up like Valhalla," Dane stated with much disappointment.

"What still gets me," Samus murmured, "is the fact that the virus isn't gunning for the Aurora Unit as heavily as it's gunning for the crew."

"It likes things with opposable thumbs?" Rundas suggested wryly. He squeaked when Ghor kicked him in his leg. Dane rested his chin on top of his left hand in deep thought. And at that moment, Gandrayda finally said something useful:

"Maybe they want to deal with the people first to get it out the way so that they can infect the Aurora Unit without interference!"

Everyone in the room except for Gandrayda (and the unconscious technicians and Stanley) gaped. Again, it's hard to tell if Ghor and Rundas are doing that. But it was easy to tell from their postures that they were stunned (they both stopped moving and stared at Gandrayda for a while).

"Ahah! Well they'll have to try harder than that!" Dane said, his hands curled into tight fists. "It takes more than a little scare in the absence of the Admiral to get to the AU!"

"You forgot. That creature almost got to the AU," Samus whispered to him.

"Well then start doing your job, Slackers!" Dane exclaimed, looking away from the crew with embarrassment.

About two hours later, the Hunters were all playing a game on Docking Bay 4. Ghor passed the ball (wherever they got it is yet to be known) to Rundas, who caught it and sighed. "Apple, banana, coconut, doughnut, elephant, uh…"

"You lose, man!" Samus giggled. Ghor chuckled silently and fell to the floor when Rundas hit him in his head with the ball. "What's so funny, robo-turd?" Rundas asked childishly.

"I believe you just attacked me…" Ghor muttered as he stood up, preparing to shoot Rundas with his plasma beam.

"Yeah, you got that right. Wanna try to take me on?" Rundas asked confidently. Samus jumped in between the two and held them apart. "Whao whao, cut it out, ladies!" she yelled. After more ball tossing and eliminating (Gandrayda forgot the word everyone said for the letter T) Samus was called to the Ready Room by Admiral Dane, who had just made a very disturbing discovery.


	9. Chapter 9

"What is it, Castor?" Samus asked as she entered the Ready Room.

"Sorry to interrupt your quality time with your pals," Dane stated casually. "Unit 242 has detected strange readings on Tallon IV. We believe one half of ULF 27 is currently wandering around the Impact Crater. What's even stranger is the fact that the Orange Phazon present in the area doesn't seem to be having that much of an effect on him. We need you to eliminate him, before he comes in actual contact with any of the inhabitants—or worse—the substance itself."

"Roger that," Samus said. "Don't worry. I got this under control."

She got to the Impact Crater after a very long time due to her constant confrontations with the Pirates and her frequent struggles against the Chozo Ghosts. She really hated Tallon IV. It only brought trouble into the universe. As she wandered around the Phazon Core, she finally came across the man she was looking for—which was inconveniently the storyteller. His back was to her, and a Fission Metroid was attached to the back of his head. "Oooh…" he moaned sheepishly. "I didn't know you liked me like that, little one…"

Samus felt like she was about to puke. The storyteller seemed more drunk than deprived of his life energy. What was even funnier was the fact that the Metroid seemed a bit dissatisfied. It was getting nothing out of him. "Hold still," Samus said as she aimed her arm cannon at the Metroid and switched it to the plasma beam. "This might hurt."

The man turned around as Samus fired the shot, taking the shot directly in his face and falling unconscious. The Fission Metroid squealed and retreated back beneath the surface of the Orange Phazon. Samus buried her face in her palm. "Friggin idiot," she mumbled as she picked him up and took him out the crater.

The storyteller woke up much later and sat up quickly. His face collided with the barrel of Samus' arm cannon and he fell flat on his back, covering his face and letting out a deep groan. "Welcome back to reality," Samus muttered as she prepared to fire a shot. The storyteller retreated up into a tree, staring down at Samus with small tears in his eyes. "What was all that for? Where's my love?" he whined. Samus shook her head and aimed at the tree. "You… have a lot of explaining to do. Where's your other half?" Samus asked him, charging her cannon.

"HAVE MERCY ON ME, PLEASE!" the storyteller wailed from the treetop. "I'll tell you if you spare my life!!"

Samus stood in silence, staring at the storyteller. Again, it seemed as if the word wimp was plastered across this guy's face. She shook her head. "You know I have to kill you right?" she asked him. "It's my job."

The man's eyes widened with fear as he scurried behind as many leaves as he could. "I didn't come here to diiiiiiiie!" he screamed. Samus sighed heavily after having being startled by his outburst. What was with him?! "But if you want to kill me…" the storyteller growled quietly, "I guess I have no choice but to start getting serious. There's no way… I'll be going out without a fight!"

The storyteller jumped out the tree and didn't touch the ground, but a small purple mist-like substance began seeping out the ground above which he levitated. "It's a shame we have to end up doing this, Samus Aran," the storyteller hissed. "I was hoping I could… annoy you for a little while longer…"

"Don't worry, you're doing perfectly fine," the hunter replied, narrowing her eyes to ensure herself that she'd get a clear shot. The man grinned. "Do you think you can really harm me, Samus Aran? If your wave beam directly to my face couldn't harm me and it hit me directly in the face, what makes you think that it will work now?" he asked impishly.

"You passed out," Samus retorted.

"…Well I was just playing around," the man hissed, looking off to the side. He shook his head angrily to snap himself back into reality. "Nevermind that! You will wish you never were assigned this mission!"

Samus gritted her teeth. "Try me," she grunted.

"Omega Pirate, or Berserker Lord?"

"Oh come on, that's so fucking easy, man! Berserker Lord, of course!"

"Really, Rundas? I'm thinking more like the… Omega Pirate."

"Berserker Lord is SO much more bad ass than the Omega Pirate!"

"But the Omega Pirate has Phazon reserves."

"So does the fucking Berserker Lord, dude!"

"But can the Berserker Lord regenerate itself?"

"Oh yeah?! How many Omega Pirates were there again?"

"…"

"Oh that's right! ONE. So much for Project Helix, huh, pal?"

Gandrayda looked back and forth between Rundas and Ghor as they played this new game they developed out of boredom. Ghor lowered his head in deep thought. "But," he said, "If there was only one Berserker Lord and one Omega Pirate, the Omega Pirate would still win."

"Yeah right, Berserker Lord still owns, man! You can't change that fact!"

"…Okay then, Berserker Lord or… Metroid Prime?"

"THAT IS SO UNFAIR, DUDE." Rundas screamed, falling off the couch and pointing at Ghor. The door to the new resting room opened and Samus walked in, falling on the floor and exhaling deeply. The others looked down on her. "What's the matter, Samus?" Ghor asked. Samus looked up at the cyborg, and then she looked down at the floor. Gandrayda slowly drifted off to sleep from the awkward silence.

"That storyteller got away…" she mumbled.

"You know, I really gotta meet this guy! First he annoys you to no end and then he

hit-and-runs the mess out of you? That guy has to be like… I don't know, the ultimate jackass or something," Rundas ranted bluntly.

"Oh really?" Ghor asked. "Well then I guess someone has some competition."

Rundas caught on to Ghor's innuendo and turned to face him, holding his arms out before him. "Why I oughta…"

"Chill out, girls!" Samus shouted weakly. She sat up and folded her legs pretzel style. Gandrayda sprang awake, snorting and laughing hysterically. "Pfah! She called you guys a lady!" she giggled. Ghor and Rundas both looked at Gandrayda, wishing she wasn't a girl so that they could pummel her. "You are going to regret that," Ghor grumbled.

"Samus, I have a question!" Rundas blurted out, his eyes on Ghor. "Isn't it unfair to automatically pitch Metroid Prime against the Berserker Lord?"

Samus shook her head. "I have no say in this."

"But come on! Admit it! That's like putting the Sentinel of the Luminoth up against a fetus!"

Samus stifled a giggle and looked away. "Rundas, how do you and Ghor end up having these silly arguments?" she asked.

"Boredom," both the guys answered.

"It was a game," Gandrayda added. Samus narrowed her eyes.

"You guys are… wow," she murmured, rolling over on her back and staring at the ceiling. Ghor looked and Rundas and back at Samus, and the night went on.

"Oh Darling, what's the matter?" the storyteller asked as he stepped into the Aurora Chamber. He sensed that Unit 313 wasn't pleased. 313 let out a deep sigh. "My master," he said to the storyteller, "Operation Alpha was a complete failure."

"A complete failure, you say?" the storyteller asked as he approached the stasis tank. He braced his hand against the glass. "No, it didn't completely fail, my love. We still have Stanley. And it will be a matter of time before he escapes and infects more of those GF Soldiers. Don't you worry…"

"And what of the hunters, my master?"

"Oh, the Hunters? The Hunters… oh yes. Leave them to me."


End file.
